Three Guys in a Post-Apocalyptic Kingdom

Hikaru Nakamura – Fabiano Caruana
Candidates Tournament 2022; Madrid, June 26, 2022
Spanish Game C82

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Bc5 10. Nbd2 0-0 11. Bc2 Nxf2. The unbalanced Dilworth Variation, a favourite of Caruana. “The funny thing is I thought Fabiano might play this, so I spent like two hours last night looking at all these crazy variations in this Open Spanish”, Nakamura said afterwards. 12. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 13. Kxf2 f6 14. Nf1 fxe5 15. Kg1 Qd6. 15. ... Qd7 is also good, but all that is good does not always end well: 16. Bg5 Rae8 17. Qd2 d4 18. Ng3 h6 19. Bh4 dxc3! 20. Qxc3 Rxf3? (20. ... b4 21. Qc5 Nd4∓↑) 21. gxf3 Nd4 22. Bd1 Rf8 23. Ne4 Bc4 24. Kg2 Rf4 25. Be1 Qf5 26. Nd2 e4 27. Bg3 exf3+ 28. Kf2! (28. Nxf3?? Qh3+!!−+) 28. ... Rg4 29. Nxc4 bxc4 30. Bxf3 Nxf3 31. Qxf3 Qc2+ 32. Qe2 Qf5+ 33. Kg1 h5 34. Rf1 Qg6 35. Kh1 h4 36. Bxc7 h3 37. Qf3 Qd3 38. Be5 Rg2 39. Bc3 1 : 0 Vachier-Lagrave – Caruana, 7th Grand Chess Tour, 1st stage, Superbet Chess Classic, Bucharest 2022. 16. Be3 Bf5 (16. ... Rad8 17. Qe1 Bf5 18. Bxf5 Rxf5 19. Rd1 h6 20. Bf2 Rf7 21. Bg3 Qc5+ 22. Bf2 Qd6 23. Qe2 Rdf8 24. Bg3 Qc5+ 25. Bf2 Qd6 26. Bg3 Qc5+ 27. Bf2 ½ : ½ Caruana – J. van Foreest, 84th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2022) 17. Bb3 Rad8 18. Qe1 Na5 19. Qf2 Nb7. Less convincing is 19. ... Nxb3 20. axb3 Rf7 21. Bc5 Qf6 22. Qg3 Re8 23. Re1 Bd3 24. N1d2 e4 25. Ng5 Qc6 26. b4 Rf5 27. Nh3 Rf7 28. Nf2 a5 29. Qe3 Ra8 30. Nxd3 exd3 31. bxa5 h6 32. b4 Qg6 33. Nf3 Qf5 34. Rd1 Ra6 35. Qe8+ Kh7 36. Qxb5 Rg6 37. Qxd3 Qg4 38. Ne1 Kh8 39. h3 Qh5 40. b5 Rgf6 41. Nc2 Rf3 42. Qe2 Rf1+ 43. Qxf1 Rxf1+ 44. Rxf1 Qe2 45. b6 Qb5 46. Nd4 Qxc5 47. b7 Qxc3 48. b8=Q+ Kh7 49. Qb1+ g6 50. Rf7+ Kh8 51. Qb8# 1 : 0 Malicka – 梅奥斯汀 (Austin Méi), Inaugural Mission 360 Bay Area GM/IM Invitational Norm Chess Tournament, San José 2022. 20. Re1 c5 21. Ng3. 21. Bg5!? c4 (21. ... Rde8? 22. Rxe5! Rxe5 23. Bf4+−) 22. Bxd8 cxb3 23. Bh4 bxa2 (Δ ... Bf5-b1) 24. Ra1 Bb1 25. Qa7! (25. Bg3!?) 25. ... Qg6 26. Nxe5 Qe6 27. Bg3 Na5 28. Nd2 Nc4 29. Qd4 Nxd2 30. Qxd2⩲ is a little better for White, but still not clear enough. 21. ... Bd3 22. Qd2 c4?! (22. ... e4!? 23. Ng5 Qc6∞) 23. Bd1 Rd7 24. Bf2. Pursuing a hyper-modern plan of consolidation. 24. ... Rdf7

25. Nh1! As once Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan said, “Nimzowitsch has ruined generations of people by playing Ng3-h1...”. 25. ... e4 26. Nd4 Qg6 (26. ... Nc5!? 27. Bh5 Rf4)

27. h4! Nc5? 27. ... h5 was probably Black’s best reply, after which there could follow 28. Qg5 Qxg5 29. hxg5 g6 30. Nc6 with a slightly favourable ending for White. 28. h5 Qd6 29. Bg4 h6 30. Qe3

30. ... Qf4. In the end, Caruana finds nothing better than to enter a very bad ending, as an admission that something has gone wrong with his opening preparation. 31. Qxf4. 31. Bf5! was also very strong. 31. ... Rxf4 32. Ne6 Nxe6 33. Bxe6+ Kh7 34. Bxd5 R8f5 35. Bc6 Rxh5 36. Bd4 Rhf5 37. Nf2 Rf7 38. b4 h5 39. a4 bxa4 40. Bxa4 h4. Time control is reached, but Black has nothing to be happy about. 41. Be3 R4f5

42. Ra1! Nothing is more implacable than a counter-intuitive technique. 42. ... h3! 43. Ra2! (43. Bd1? h2+ 44. Kxh2 Rxf2!=) 43. ... hxg2 44. Bd1! R7f6. If nothing else, 44. ... Bb1 would still set a trap for Nakamura: 45. Rxa6? Rxf2! 46. Bxf2 e3! with a draw coming soon. But, of course, 45. Rb2 Bd3 46. Kxg2 would maintain White’s advantage. 45. Bg4 Rd5 46. Kxg2 Rg6 47. Kg3 Bf1 48. Bd4 Bd3 49. Kf4 Kg8 50. Bf5 Rh6 51. Ng4 Rhd6 52. Ne3 Rb5 53. Bc5 Rf6 54. Ke5 Kf7 55. Nd5 Rxf5+ 56. Kxf5 e3+ 57. Ke5 e2 58. Bf2 Rb8 59. Be1 Re8+ 60. Kf4 g5+! Caruana defends stubbornly, although vainly. 61. Kg3 Re6 62. Kf2 Rh6 63. Ke3 Re6+ 64. Kf2 Rh6 65. Ne3 Rf6+ 66. Kg3 Rf1 67. Ng2 Rf6 68. Bf2 Kg6 69. Ra5 Re6 70. Ne1 Bf5 71. Nf3 Rd6 72. Nd4 Bd3 73. Re5 Kf6 74. Nf3 1 : 0.

After playing a not-marginal role as an inside streamer, Nakamura also vindicated his right to the nomination of the kings. Photo: Stev Bonhage/FIDE.